Guest guest Posted June 29, 2001 Report Share Posted June 29, 2001 Dear All, I'm taking a wee break from construction to get caught up on some e-mail and to fully clarify the Advertising Policy of our list. Love, Doc Advertising Policy As many of you HR List old timers are aware, the first two and a half years of Herbal Remedies' List history existed without the advertising of any products at all. No advertising was tolerated. Everyone just "knew" that if they needed high quality herbal products they had to contact me off list or go somewhere else or grow and make 'em themselves. I have always promoted that others grow and make their own and consider this practice crucial in maintaining our Herbal freedoms. The more people who are educated in growing their own herbs and making their own remedies, guarantee the future of Natural Healing and Naturopathy in America. It also goes along with the Naturopathic idea of being fully responsible for oneself and one's family. The list was NOT created to "find me business" or "make me money", and many of you who know me well (many of my personal friends and patients are members of this list) are very aware of how snowed under I usually am business wise. The list does not account for even so much as 1% of my income, so I have absolutely no personal axe to grind here. Last November and December 2000, several list members asked me if they could advertise on HR and I decided to do a survey to find out if this was a popular idea or not. Only 36 people voted (approx. 9 to 10% of the list membership at that time) and 35 voted "YES" with only one person voting "NO" (she was concerned with price wars, odius comparisons of products and thought it might take the list OT = Off Topic). Since I had no other experience to go by, I decided at that time to allow advertising for a trial period, as long as the person doing the promoting either grew their own or made their own. Those were the only stipulations. So what happened??? Not much really. A few price lists and promo pieces were posted but the list pretty much stayed on course with its usual chatter and discussions on Herbal Remedies and Natural Healing. I'd have to say that this trial period was mostly a no-show or no-event. People who wanted herbal remedies continued to contact me off list, or went their own merry way and grew their own, or contacted others off list. There was only one incident of where a business person was contacting others off list promoting their products (did not make their own) and was sending unsolicited e-mail to list members. This was reported to me and soon handled without any hullaballoo and corrected very easily. The person had been fairly new and was unaware of the "unwritten" policy and stopped the promoting as soon as I pointed out to them (off list) that they shouldn't be doing so. No big deal. Ohhhhhh, there've been a few fly-by-nights who've signed up, made a big pitch for some MLM or other herbal list, and have been privately, quietly banned with most everyone just ignoring them and their posts. Again, no big deal. So, what's the finally outcome and conclusion of this 'trial period'? And what is the permanent policy to be? Let's look at a few facts. The main purpose of the list is twofold. I originally created the list back in 1998 #1, to assist me in research, and #2, to broadly disseminate AFFORDABLE, WORKABLE NATURAL SOLUTIONS WHICH A PERSON COULD APPLY TO THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES FOR A RESOLUTION OF ALL HEALTH PROBLEMS. As a corollary, it can be seen that part of this mission would include getting rid of ALL the false information in the entire health field. What a job! The medical profession has totally betrayed our trust and has become the biggest group of drug pushers on the planet. The pharmaceuticals (the medicos suppliers) are bigger than any drug cartel found in Columbia and gross over 1.5 Trillion dollars a year. Psychiatrists are the biggest frauds of all and are the sole source behind the drugging of millions of American children today. 1 in 4 Americans is on psychiatric psychotropic drugs. The above is beyond irresponsible, it is completely criminal! So far I have managed to keep the list free of any vested interest influence and most of the data in the HR "files" section has been found to be tried and true, workable technology. However, I am always culling, refining, testing and improving, and the files will continue to be updated. The main reason for the decision to go back to our original practice of NO ADVERTISING, is because I personally have no control over what another person makes and should some nefarious individual decide to do some damage to a list member by selling them something dangerous, I'd have a tough time sleeping at night. I have always stood 100% behind my own products and Organic Solutions (my company) is large enough and responsible enough to stand on its own. But how can I in good conscience, allow someone I don't know, the right to advertise on this list that I am responsible for? It can not be! So the policy is as follows: ABSOLUTELY NO ADVERTISING OF HERBAL PRODUCTS OR HERBAL COMPANIES OF ANY KIND IS TO BE ALLOWED ON THE LIST FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER! This includes but is not limited to any herbal, pharmaceutical or medicinal product. It also includes any advertising in a signature line or URL used as a signature line which contains a link to another company or product line. ABSOLUTELY NO SELLING IS TO BE DONE ON THE LIST! The main function of this list is: EDUCATION, AND THE FORMULATION AND COLLECTION OF TRUE WORKABLE NATURAL TECHNOLOGY! Love, Doc PS. On-list TRADING of Herbs and Heirloom seeds has always been allowed on Herbal Remedies, and is solely the responsibility of the trading parties. Ian "Doc" Shillington N.D.505-772-5889Dr.IanShillington Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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